On the malicious attempts to erase webpage archives - and rewrite history?
Imagine sitting around with your extended family five years from now — aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents — and discussing the COVID years. Most of your family made it through though many (those who were jabbed) are still suffering the after-effects. Someone brings up the topic of quarantine. Aunt Molly (anti-vaxxer-extraordinaire) wags her finger at Uncle Henry (a doctor in his official capacity) and reminds him of what she called, at the time and now again, the child abuse he committed.
“Child abuse?” Uncle Henry raises his eyebrows quizzically though the tell-tale strain at the corners of his mouth gives away his recollection of uncomfortable memories. “What on earth are you talking about, Molly?”
Aunt Molly glances out of the window to where the family’s assortment of grandchildren are playing in the back yard. “Should I call in your little Susie and remind her of that week she spent alone in her bedroom, of how she had to knock on the door if she needed to use the bathroom, to tell everyone to keep out of her way until she was safely back under lock and key? Do you think it hasn’t left its mark on her? And it wasn’t just Susie, was it?” she accuses, her glance raking the adults in the room, most of whom avert their eyes. “Come on, own up.”
“Molly, for goodness’ sake, you really are exaggerating now!” blusters Uncle Peter, fidgeting a little as he thinks of his then-ten-year-old son’s cries and protests and wishing he hadn’t given in to Henry with his insistence of the “vital importance” of following the government’s rules. “It wasn’t as bad as all that. And it certainly wasn’t anything near a week!”
Aunt Molly shrugs. “You can deny it if you like and hope everyone forgets. But the truth is the truth.”
***
Families may prefer to forget. Even the Aunt Mollies may prefer to sweep aspects of the past under the carpet in the name of peace. Of course, if another “pandemic” is announced, Aunt Molly will be right there to lift up the carpet and remind everyone of what happened and warn them not to fall into the same trap again.
On a countrywide, a world-wide scale, there will be plenty of Mollies ready, in such an event, to remind everyone of the terrible and dangerous mistakes made, of the lies propounded.
Some may want to refer to this document, out of the WHO (World Health Organization) archives, to prove that there really were people in a position of authority who wanted to drag people out of their homes and forcibly isolate them, lest a bad cold be spread among their siblings.
This is what Dr. Maria Van Kerkove of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program said during a WHO meeting in March, 2020:
But what if the document is gone? What if those named in it deny such words were spoken, deny the meeting ever took place? What then?
You can screenshot that document now that you know about it. But what if you didn’t know and you’re trying to research what the WHO said back in 2020, and you scan the internet only to come up with this:
This could happen. And the reason it could happen is that some of the various internet archives and digital storage vaults of information — of history — are gone. Wiped away, by unseen hands, who don’t want you to be able to research the past — because that way, they have a much better chance of controlling your present and your future.
Google Search: Gone
Last September, Google Search stopped caching webpages. It no longer shows links to web pages it has stored in the past. According to tech website SEOZoom, this is nothing to worry about because there are still other ways of accessing internet history:
Google Search no longer shows links to web pages it has stored and has removed the caching functionality completely, while introducing closer collaboration with Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine. It’s a change that marks the end of a feature that for years has been an integral partof users’ search experience and has also often been useful for debugging SEO problems and checking pages.
But never fear: there are still alternative ways to view cached copies of web pages...
According to Google’s search liaison, Danny Sullivan, the reason for retiring the caching service was that it is no longer needed. Writing on X, Sullivan explained that,
It was meant for helping people access pages when way back, you often couldn’t depend on a page loading. These days things have greatly improved...
Wayback Machine: Almost gone
Just a few weeks later, one of the main alternative ways to research webpage history went down. This time it was archive.org itself, the Wayback Machine.
On October 8, 2024, archive.org was hit with a huge distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) which took down the service entirely. The system almost crashed but was eventually retrieved in part after colossal effort.
The most recent update on the site’s functionality was posted on October 21; it stresses that there is now what appears to be a permanent gap in caching:
In recovering from recent cyberattacks on October 8, the Internet Archive has resumed the Wayback Machine (starting October 13) and Archive-It (October 17), and as of today (October 21), has begun offering provisional availability of archive.org in a read-only manner. Features like uploading, borrowing, reviewing items, inter-library loan, and other services are not yet available.
Please note that these services will have limited availability as we continue maintenance.
The site’s owners also made it clear that the attack was malicious and that they are readying themselves for future attacks:
The Internet Archive is not alone in being the target of a malicious cyberattack...
The safety and integrity of the Internet Archive’s data and patrons remain our top priorities. As the security incident is analyzed and contained by our team, we are relaunching services as defenses are strengthened. These efforts are focused on reinforcing firewall systems and further protecting the data stores.
The ability to access older versions of current webpages has proven invaluable for researchers following the mutation of official guidelines on COVID, for example. One can trawl archive.org to discover how the CDC first advised one thing and then another; how the authorities once (in the pre-COVID era) respected natural immunity only later to disparage it; how “vaccine” was once defined by authorities as one thing and then another.
In their blog, the owners of archive.org noted that they have not been the only such service targeted by cyber-attackers:
We stand with all libraries that have faced similar attacks — British Library, Seattle Public Library, Toronto Public Library, and Calgary Public Library — and with the communities we serve. Thank you for standing with the Internet Archive as we continue to fight back on behalf of all affected readers.
British Library: Crippled
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of just three national libraries (the other two are in Oxford and Cambridge Universities and are only accessible to University members) to hold every single item ever published in the UK.
Although our roots extend back centuries, we collect everything published today, tomorrow and decades into the future. We have millions of books, but also newspapers, maps, sound recordings, patents and stamps.
In October, 2023, the British Library fell victim to a cyber-attack and is still suffering the after-effects:
We're continuing to experience disruption as a result of a cyber-attack that took place in October 2023. The outage is still affecting our website, online systems and services, as well as some onsite services, however our buildings are open as usual.
The attack caused substantial damage that is complex and challenging to repair, beginning with the installation of a completely new computing infrastructure for the entire Library...
Our teams have been working since the cyber-attack to find ways to restore access to as much of our collection as possible, but disruption to certain services is expected to persist for some time...
Throughout the COVID era, misinformation and disinformation were vilified by public health authorities and even presented as major threats to well-being. Efforts to censor any opinion that counter the standard narrative are ongoing.
Cyber-attacks are also ongoing, and are frequently presented as the work of "rogue" nations such as Russia or Iran. Cyber protection and clean-up after hacks cost governments, companies, and individuals a fortune, but the total cost is not only measurable in dollars.
The information contained in this article is for educational and information purposes only and is not intended as health, medical, financial or legal advice. Always consult a physician, lawyer or other qualified professional regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition, health objectives or legal or financial issues.
